Page 12 of Do Opposites Attract?

‘I doubt it’s much fun, but then again it depends on what you had to lose in the first place.’

‘I guess.’ The sheer extent of her privileged existence hadn’t been clear to her, until now. Would any of the crowd she partied with really understand the hell other people were living through? Even Melanie had changed the subject when Brianna had tried to explain what she had seen. Whatever she did with the rest of her life, Brianna promised she’d never forget the hardship she’d witnessed on this short trip. Or the grace with which the villagers handled the cruel blow fate had thrown them.

‘So, are you enjoying your stay with us so far?’ Dan’s voice interrupted her thoughts.

‘I’m not sure enjoying is the right word. It’s certainly been an eye-opener. You read about this sort of thing in the newspapers, but until you’ve actually seen it for yourself, well, it just doesn’t seem real, does it?’

Dan glanced over at her. ‘I guess you’re right. I’ve been doing this job for a couple of years now, but I can still remember my first camp.’ The jeep shuddered as it went over a few craters in the road. ‘Still, we can’t have you going back remembering just the tough stuff. You have to have some fun. It’s how we manage to cope with the rest. Me, Jane and Toby are going out to the town for a drink tonight. Will you join us? We’re a lot more entertaining when we’re not on duty.’ He grinned, his eyes lighting up in invitation. The message in them was clear.

‘Perhaps,’ Brianna replied cautiously. She longed for a few drinks and a bit of light relief, but she didn’t want to give Danany wrong ideas. ‘I’ll see how I feel later. What about the others? Aren’t they coming?’

‘Roger doesn’t fancy it and Tessa and Stuart are on duty.’ He veered sharply to the right to avoid a giant pothole. ‘Mitch rarely comes out, but maybe if you invited him, he would.’

Brianna laughed at that. ‘After our little altercation yesterday, I sincerely doubt that.’ Thank goodness only she knew how her pulse had rocketed at the suggestion. She gave what she hoped was a nonchalant shrug. ‘But I’m happy to give it a try.’

They were on their way back to the medical tent when Dan’s phone went off. ‘Yes, no problem, we’re nearly there.’

After finishing the call he turned to Brianna. ‘We’ve got to get a move on. They need the truck to get out to a child who’s been found in the rubble of one of the houses. Apparently a metal pole has speared straight through his chest.’

Brianna shuddered violently. ‘Oh God.’ The images that flashed through her mind were enough to make her feel faint.

‘The family had evacuated to the camp a couple of days ago but this morning the mother noticed her son was missing. It seems he’d wandered back to his old home for some reason. When they found him he was trapped by the pole, still alive but unable to move.’

Dan continued to talk but Brianna heard very little of the rest. It took all her concentration to stay conscious. And not heave all over the dashboard.

They screeched to a stop outside the medical tent and Dan dashed inside. Brianna waited in the truck, desperately trying to be strong. It wouldn’t be pleasant but she wanted to go with them. This was the type of situation they must regularly come face to face with. She wanted to see for herself how they dealt with it.

‘Brianna.’ Mitch opened the truck door. His hair was dishevelled, his eyes tired and his chin wore a couple of days’worth of stubble. It didn’t stop her heart doing cartwheels in her ribcage as he glared at her. For all his roughness, perhaps because of his roughness, he was the sexiest man she’d ever met. ‘We need to take the truck. You’ll have to get out.’ No please, just a command.

She stayed seated. ‘I’m coming along.’

Mitch started to grab her and pull her out of the truck. Then he looked down at his hand gripping her arm and dropped it faster than the proverbial hot potato. ‘For God’s sake woman, why won’t you do as you’re told?’ he thundered, clearly exasperated.

‘I’m here to see what you do, so I’m staying. I’ll sit in the back if you like, but I won’t remain behind.’

‘This isn’t a flaming outing to the park,’ he replied tightly. ‘There’s a boy impaled with a pole. It won’t be a pretty sight.’

She raised her chin. ‘I’m not stupid. I know that. But what’s the point in me coming all the way out here if you won’t let me see what you actually do?’

Mitch could see there was no point arguing with Brianna. Other than manhandling her out of the truck — and she probably still had the bruises from the last time he’d put his grubby hands on her soft flesh — he had no choice but to let her stay. He was damned if he’d ever met a woman more stubborn, or more arrogant. ‘Fine,’ he snarled. ‘But there’s only one person we’ll be focusing on. You feel faint, or sick, you’re on your own.’

He slammed the door shut and went to check the equipment Dan was putting in the back of the jeep.

‘Will you need to operate on site?’ Dan asked, heaving a medical bag over his shoulder.

‘I hope not.’ The preference was always to get a patient into hospital with injuries like this. The reality was that the hospital was hundreds of miles away. With no smooth roads and no ambulance with soft suspension, it was highly likely such a longtrip would cause more damage. He’d have to assess it when he was there. The most realistic scenario was he’d have to bring the boy back to the medical tent and operate on him there. It was primitive, but he’d done it before. He just hoped Brianna didn’t stick her pretty little nose in too far. He knew how traumatic the sight would be when they got there. He’d seen it many times before, both with Medic SOS and on the battlefield. She hadn’t. He didn’t have the time or energy for more than one patient.

‘What’s she doing in the truck?’ Tessa looked pointedly at Brianna, who was staring defiantly out of the window.

‘Apparently she’s coming with us,’ Mitch replied absently, his mind already thinking ahead to what he might find, what he would need.

‘You’ve got to be kidding. She’ll just get in the way.’

Clearly incensed at being discussed as if she wasn’t there, Brianna yanked open the door. ‘I can hear, you know,’ she told them. ‘And I won’t get in your precious way. I’m just here to observe.’ With that she slammed the door shut again.

Tessa raised her eyebrows at him, but Mitch merely shrugged. He wasn’t going to get embroiled in a female spat. Taking the coward’s way out, he helped Dan load up the rest of the equipment.

The atmosphere in the truck was tense as he drove to where the boy had been found. Next to him Brianna folded and unfolded her arms, wrapped her hair into a ponytail, and finally stared out of the window. Behind him, on the back seat of the truck, Dan closed his eyes and a stony-faced Tessa glared at the back of Brianna’s head.

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